The Guardian newspaper has sued two online dating sites in the High Court, claiming that the companies have violated its database rights by using profiles taken from its own dating service.
Guardian News and Media (GNM) operates the Guardian Soulmates dating service and has claimed that Dating Network Limited and Xfactor Online …

hehe

It's true! I have seen adverts for their "soulmates" service while pursuing their misspelt site myself and have thought exactly what you've just said, though I always imagine it being mostly made up of men who look and sound like Alan Bennett for some reason, not sure why that is???????

Erm no

It's really not, I've used it several times (dive bars only have limited appeal) and have always had success with it. Depressingly my dates through that would tend to be cuter / more suitable than those that I have arranged after meeting in bars.

Sure the 'majority' of those purported 150,000 aren't active, that's the same with most sites but an awful lot are within a week of signing up I'd usually have e-mails from 10 different girls and 80+ 'fans' and I'm below GSM's demographic age, if you're in your mid thirties the response levels are insane (experience of a friend).

And you can recieve mail just fine without subscribing, you just can't reply except for some stock one liners to say you haven't got an active subscription. So you're just wrong there.

Erm, no, again

Have to add that I'm using Guardian Soulmates at the moment and finding it very good so far (still chatting to girls in bars as well though, it's not an either/or situation) . It was recommended to me by two separate (female) friends who both found their current partner on there.

Haven't come across any "professionals" or import-a-bride scams, but hey, maybe I'm not looking at the profiles of girls who's pictures are the kind you'd see stuck up in a phonebox.

Free dating sites on the other hand are stuffed full of scams because there's no barrier to entry, bar a working e-mail address. Once you start charging the number of scams are of course going to go way down.

For the record, I don't read the Guardian - in fact I don't think a lot of people on there do. It's just one of the more popular sites.

Also - People sneering at online dating on a site full of nerds? Know your audience people.

Oooo just how bitter

"They've realised its essentially a phising scam...?"

It's only phishing if you give personal info away, generally I just thought it was people not deleting their profile after not subscribing. I've seen two of my friends on there that haven't logged in for a year or more.

"Quelle suprise? Did booze have anything to do with that...?"

Er no, more that people in London are hostile to the point of contempt at least 90% of the time. I've lived here for 10 years, its incredibly difficult to meet people in a dating context, most of the time it's through friends of friends or house parties. Elsewhere in the country and especially abroad it is far far easier. Backing up slightly, if you don't meet them at a pub/bar and didn't arrange it through a site like GSM how would you suggest oh sagely master. Shall I try and strike up a conversation on the tube perhaps. That'll go well.

"At least half of which are solicitations from "professionals", import-a-bride.com menu card offerings or cute but unsuprisingly "not active" .."

Er no, all of them real. None of them copy and paste and referred to relevent things in your profile (here's where it differs to match). If I had a stereotypical profile, she'd be late twenties, reasonably attractive, middle class graduate, works in media, marketing or for a charity and is trying it because her friends have recommended it to her and she's either been too busy or is sick of only ever being chatted up by Hackett wearing popped collar, highlight sporting chav's that walk up and try and buy her a drink everytime she's out.

So no it's not like dial a bride, you can quite easily get 3 dates a week until you're bored or broke and I've done that three times, getting a short term girlfriend twice and cancelling the third sub because I met my current girlfriend on holiday. All that was in the space of 7 months last year, in which I had dates with ~25 girls (see if you'd have said that a lot of the people on tehre are boring, I'd have agreed wholeheartedly)

I honestly have no idea where your misconceptions have come from.3 of my friends who have found long term partners through it and many more that have had dates or short term girlfriends through it. None have ever moaned about solicitations to subscribe. Of the other sites I've tried it's painfull obvious the shills and I've honestly never seen it on GSM.

I subscribe to that aphorism about not arguing on the internet, you have your opinions/experiences and I have mine. They differ, such is life.

On the topic of the actual articile on the other hand, doesn't surprise me that a company tried this. it would definitely feel like an invasion of privacy if someone posted me up on another site, because I wouldn't know about it. That'd be a lovely conversation with the missus "My friend's just seen you on a dating site"

Your happiness is our wealth

For god's sake, go to a bar and meet a woman, like the rest of us.

The only data breach you'll ever need to worry about then is the mad old cow posting your phone number amongst the adverts for whores in phone boxes when you split up, leading to you receiving unsolicited calls at strange hours.

Correct, but...

I'd agree that social activities where there's an opportunity to do stuff together are certainly the best way to meet new potential mates, something a lot of geeks (and builders too) need as their profession unless it happens to locate them next to the marketing dept affords few.

However, i'd say London is one of the most anti-social places i've ever had the misfortune to be.

I've experienced numerous houseshares where rather then being a big brother style social those sharing will mostly lock themselves away in their rooms on facebook rather than actually have to talk to one another.

Same goes for most activity type stuff - most London groups involving groups of strangers see them showing up, doing the class and then promptly buggering off immediately at the end for fear they might actually have to interact with others who god forbid might not have gone to the right school!

As for starbucks and the other identikit coffee franchises that have come to monopolise our social meeting spaces, never has their been a more false (or lonely) community been created.

People in London, unless they are totally intoxicated from booze are mostly too afraid to speak or socialise!

No bloody suprise really when the media are constantly telling everyone that everyone else is a potential murderer, rapist, peodo, freak etc.

agreed

Re: Ironic

"Surely, classy birds with active and fullfiling social lives are out living their fulfilling social lives rather than spending time chatting up strangers on an on-line dating site?"

I said nothing about the virtues or disadvantages of online dating, as it happens; only about seeking partners in bars. Me, I've always found having some interesting hobbies has always been the way to meet people, but that clearly doesn't work for everyone.

I see you feel that anything related to computers and the internet leaves those associated in the depths of a socially and emotionally crippled nerd ghetto; stop to consider the fact that those sorts of people are also unlikely to find a partner online (at least not one who'll hang around long after meeting face to face). The popularity and profitability of online dating sites implies a reasonable quantity of socially well adjusted users, fifty percent of whom seem to be quite happy avoiding individuals like yourself.

"The Guardian's dating site" - see also Torygraph?

"The Guardian's dating site" is surely operated for them by the same outfit (and sometimes with the same profiles?) as operates the Torygraph's (and maybe others)? I can't actually verify this from work as it's blocked by Wetsense, but I'm reasonably confident. Or it could just be that the same people sign up for both, but I doubt it.

ps

what's with the El Reg "survey" today? are you trying to really p. off those who provide your income (your readers)?

Think of the children...!

Always find it funny on UK newspaper websites how right next to the frontpage dating mugshot there's usually an article with a similar looking photo about an evil rapist, psychopath, murderer or paedo who commited heinous crimes after soliciting his victims over the interweb.